FBU 'pleasantly surprised' over change of tack in fire strike

Change of strategy in dealing with second strike as firefighters told they will not be docked pay for a whole shift

Firefighters will not be locked out of their stations for a whole shift following a Surrey County Council U-turn before strike action on Saturday (October 19).

The heads of Surrey Fire and Rescue were accused of gambling with the safety of residents when fire officers staged a walkout over a pension dispute on September 25.

Rather than not paying the striking staff for the duration of the four-hour strike, the authority made the decision, unique across the country, in locking staff out for a whole day.

Firefighters were told they could not protest on station property and accused the authority of relying too heavily on rescue firm Specialist Group International, as staff lacked suitable experience.

Chief fire officer Russell Pearson was accused of taking an unnecessary ‘aggressive attitude’ toward officers, who were taking the action.

When defending the authority’s position, cabinet associate Kay Hammond had argued that not having firefighters off work for a whole day would create ‘logistical chaos’, adding that the authority was ‘not prepared to compromise on Surrey’s safety’.

However, the authority has reversed its position in the lead-up to a further strike on Saturday night, from 6.30pm until 11.30pm.

Striking staff will not be paid for the scheduled strike action, but will not have their wages docked for an entire shift.

Tim Lockett, west area representative for the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it was heartening that the Surrey authority had decided to rethink its strategy to the strike.

“It didn’t make any sense for the county to be doing things in a completely different way to every other authority in the country,” he said. “We were frustrated and concerned before that the county was at risk with a lack of sufficient experience and no real major incident cover provided by SGI.

“We are pleasantly surprised by the decision. Pressure must have been applied on to the authority from both sides, the unions and from other authorities across the country. They showed that there was no need to close us out for a whole shift. This means that Surrey striking members will fall into the national line on Saturday evening.”

Mr Lockett added that industrial action remained the last weapon of the force, which is protesting against pension changes which would see front-line staff facing penalties unless they remain in their positions until 60. “We don’t want to be striking. We want to be out there doing our jobs, but this is something that we have to do,” he said.

A Surrey Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “In the light of locally improving employee relations since the previous industrial action, we wanted to recognise and build on the positive working relationship between the local representative officials and service management, with significant progress having been made on a number of key areas since the start of industrial action.

“The dispute is between the FBU and the Department for Communities and Local Government and we hope that a national strike can be averted through further discussions.”

He added: “We are also asking our residents to take extra care during this time, however if you need to dial 999 in a genuine emergency you will get a response.”

The Staines Informer, Woking Informer, Surrey Herald, Surrey Advertiser and Surrey Times are part of Trinity Mirror Southern, offering you unique access to our audience across the region online and in print.

We reach an average of 264,182* unique users a month with dedicated coverage of Guildford, Woking, Esher, Staines and the whole of Surrey.

80% of our visitors**, who view an average of 997,435* page impressions every month, are in the desirable ABC1 socio-economic groups.

To book an advert with the our advertising team call 01483 508700 or visit the Trinity Mirror Southern website trinitymirrorsouthern.co.uk for more information.

We are part of Trinity Mirror Southern, offering you unique access to our audience across the region online and in print.

She has been editorial director of the online and print titles in Surrey and north-east Hampshire since 2007. Marnie previously worked at the BBC as a producer for 5 Live, having moved to national radio from BBC Sussex and Surrey.